Indigenous Health

Indigenous Health

Question 1

Introduction

This essay is about review of “terra nullius” and its consequences on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. I will examine how the “terra nullius” impacted the social and emotional well being, future economical loss, loss of community independence and tribal spirituality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

Discussion

Terra Nullius was first applied to Australia with the arrival of the British in 1788 and it was used to dislocate the First Peoples of Australia from their lands. The notion of Terra Nullius operates on the principle that a land has no socio-political and economic structure and a land has no apparent land possession (Wensing, 1999). Those affirming Australia Terra Nullius knew they were being untrustworthy and their motives are clear, their desire was to claim the land for Britain and alleviate the pressures of an overloaded and a tired nation. The concept of terra nullius intended contradicting both the existence and humanity of Aboriginal people. It also intended to marginalizing aboriginal people from society of white people (Ross, 2006).

Britain thought to implement the initiative of terra nullius or land that belongs to none in relation to take possession of the America but it by no means politically or legally succeeded. They view Amerindians as an structured society and with set of laws and regulations, whilst in Australia they view the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population as barbariac, unorganized with no structure of rules and laws. Australia was the solitary nation colonized by the British that was affirmed as “Terra Nullius” and continued both politically and legally from 1788 to 1992. After the arrival of British Australia in 1788, without being accepted and entering into treaties with British, the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander population were taken care of similar to savages and were left without any right of possession to the lands they had exclusively occupied for a longer period of time (Foley, 2009).

The terra nullius resulted in a great loss in terms of social, emotional and well being throughout the colonized history of Australia. According to John Finnis (1980), there are seven basic immutable rights that are obligatory and necessary to the well being of humans. Finnis argued that malevolence is done if even one of them is violated straightforwardly. These fundamental human rights as described by Finnis served as a structure by which we can understand the conciliated situation of Torres Strait Islander population and Aboriginal society, a society having been stopped from their birthright. These human rights comprises the right the right to existence, the right to artistic knowledge and amiability, the right to sensible reasonableness, understanding and play and the right to faith. By refuting land rights in terra nullius, rejecting of social justice and apart from Torres Strait Islander population and Aboriginal form Australian society immorality has been done not only in the context to one of the human rights described by Finnis but all of them (Finnis, 1980).

Terra nullius doctrine has had such a disproportionate effect on the Aboriginal population ...